Never was there a man much uglier <br />In eyes of other women, or more grim: <br />"The Lord has filled her chalice to the brim, <br />So let us pray she's a philosopher," <br />They said; and there was more they said of her-- <br />Deeming it, after twenty years with him, <br />No wonder that she kept her figure slim <br />And always made you think of lavender. <br /> <br />But she, demure as ever, and as fair, <br />Almost, as they remembered her before <br />She found him, would have laughed had she been there, <br />And all they said would have been heard no more <br />Than foam that washes on an island shore <br />Where there are none to listen or to care.<br /><br />Edwin Arlington Robinson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vain-gratuities/
